Be Good Until Then
by fiftyshadesofdevingray
Summary: AU Companion piece to my fic "Round Here" Oneshots of Tate and Violet and their life together.


**This is a sequel of sorts, more like a spin-off of my fic "Round Here".**

_"I think you need something to take care of in order to figure out who you are as a person and in that way, being a dad has leveled me out more than anything."-__**Pete Wentz**_

The bed is empty; the spot where she once lay is cold and would be depressing if he didn't know his beloved was coming back. Tate stretches his arms along Violet's spot, pulling her pillow to his chest sniffing the scent of her lavender shampoo, listening to the roll of thunder outside. He sighs, after all this time the shortest amount of time is too much for him. Though, he knows he won't be alone in the king sized bed for long.

"Daddy?" a tiny voice calls out, almost frantically.

The door opens with a creek, Maya walks into the room but all Tate can see is her unruly curls, which Violet will have his head for not pulling back. She moves to his side of the bed, the round outline of her face is the only thing he can make out, not her pouty. her lips, her porcelain skin or those piercing blue eyes (damn those recessive genes). He had her face memorized, though, how could he not? Maya was his perfect little mini Violet, his baby girl, the only child he liked.

Tate shifts so that his head is propped on his elbow. "Hey, blue eyes," he whispers, "What are you doing out of bed?"

Maya edges closer to the bed, "I-I couldn't sleep," she responds, shakily.

Tate can see her shadow shaking, slightly, when another roll of thunder cracks. He knows his daughter, though; she will never admit she's scared for she is Violet's daughter too. Maya edges closer to the bed, he pulls her up and rests her against his bare chest; letting their hearts beat together.

Tate strokes her hair, "Want to tell Daddy what's wrong?" he mumbles

Maya sighs, wrapping her arms around his torso. "The conflict in the Middle East," she responds, "how are they ever going to resolve it?"

"What do you know about that?" Tate chuckles.

"Umm, I heard it on the news this morning while Mommy was packing," she chokes out, "Daddy-is Mommy coming back?"

The truth comes out, she is worried her Mommy won't come back; no matter how tough she comes off she is still only four. The crack in her voice breaks his heart; he rubs soothing circles on her back.

"Hey, of course Mommy is coming back," he whispers, before kissing the crown of her head.

Maya sniffles, getting squirmy, "Usually, when it thunders Mommy sits up with me," she whimpers.

Tate presses another kiss to her forehead. "Remember, we said we are picking Mommy up at the end of the week, she went to go help out Grandmom…she's having trouble without Pop-pop."

Ben had passed away in a car accident the previous month; Vivien decided it would be best if she and Nick moved back to Boston; something about Tate being a male role model which he found vaguely terrifying. Since they didn't want to disrupt Maya's life anymore they decided Tate would stay with her while Violet went back to California to help her mother pack.

Maya snuggles deeper into his chest, burying her face into his chest. "Daddy…where did he go?" she mumbles.

"Sweetie, we went over this….he died," he sighs, twirling one of her curls absentmindedly around her finger.

Maya is silent for a moment, Tate hopes that this means her lines of questions have come to an end but then again he knows his daughter better. He just looks down at to the dark lump lying on his chest, he can see her face is angled up at him.

"Daddy," Maya cries, "are you going to die too?"

Tate feels her tears soak into his bare chest, it breaks his heart; he never wants Maya to cry. He squeezes her tightly, what does he tell her? Both her parents have almost died before at their own hands, but is it too early for that? Violet always scolds him for not being age appropriate with her.

"I am not going anywhere anytime soon," Tate reassures her, "I am still here."

Maya starts sobbing violently, her tiny body shaking like crazy, he is the frantic one now; he thought he handled that rather well. Could they go back to talking about the conflict in the Middle East?

"But you are going to go die one day?" she snuffles, "b-but I don't want you to die."

Tate strokes her silky cheek and sighs, "Maya, we're all going to die one day," he explains, gently, "it's just the circle of life."

"What if I die before you?"

"Then you are in so much trouble," he growls, unexpectedly.

Tate is pretty sure he is suffocating her now; he is holding her so close to his body. The thought of his little girl…he couldn't even think about it without choking up, he is sure without her he would fall back into a black hole. Violet was his light, but Maya sure has hell made things a whole lot brighter.

"But, I don't want to see you die," Maya mumbles, "it would make me cry."

"_I would die if anything happened to you," he thinks._

Tate grabs her face in his hand. "Maya, listen to me that is not happening for a long time" he explains, sternly.  
"But how do you know?"

"I have too much left to teach you."


End file.
